Author: admin

SINGAPORE: Japanese rubber futures advanced on Friday, marking their third consecutive weekly gain with adverse weather in Thailand and China raising supply concerns, even as sluggish demand and high inventories capped the upside.

The Osaka Exchange (OSE) rubber contract for December delivery ended daytime trade up 1.6 yen, or 0.52%, at 312.1 yen ($2.16) per kg. The contract has climbed 0.77% this week.

The rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) for September delivery dipped 50 yuan, or 0.36%, to 14,005 yuan ($1,955.08) per metric ton.

The most active August butadiene rubber contract on the SHFE gained 5 yuan, or 0.04%, to 11,275 yuan ($1,573.97) per ton. Top rubber producer Thailand’s meteorological agency warned of heavy rains and accumulations that may cause flash floods and overflows.

China’s ‘Sanfu Season’, a period of intense heat which typically begins in mid-July and lasts through late August, has arrived unusually early this year in eastern China. Beyond damaging crops and eroding farm incomes, these rising temperatures can also impact manufacturing hubs and interfere with operations in key port cities.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures closed lower on Friday, weighed by weaker rival edible oils at the Chicago and Dalian markets and by profit booking, though the contract still managed to post its seventh weekly gain in eight.

The benchmark palm oil contract for September delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange slid 29 ringgit, or 0.71%, to 4,062 ringgit ($963.02) a metric ton at the close. The contract rose 1.27% this week.

Crude palm oil prices were lower, tracking weakness in soybean oil and Dalian palm olein prices, said David Ng, a proprietary trader at Kuala Lumpur-based trading firm Iceberg X Sdn Bhd.

“Profit-taking activities after the recent price rally also affected the market,” he added.

Dalian’s most-active soyoil contract fell 0.95%, while its palm oil contract shed 0.07%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade lost 0.96%.

Palm oil tracks the price movements of rival edible oils as it competes for a share of the global vegetable oils market. Oil futures fell slightly after Iran reaffirmed its commitment to nuclear non-proliferation, while major producers from the OPEC+ group are set to agree to raise their output this weekend.

Weaker crude oil futures make palm a less attractive option for biodiesel feedstock. The ringgit, palm’s currency of trade, strengthened 0.05% against the dollar, making the commodity slightly expensive for buyers holding foreign currencies.

Malaysia’s palm oil inventories likely dropped for the first time in four months in June as production fell unexpectedly while export demand remained robust for the tropical oil, a Reuters survey showed.

PARIS: Global food commodity prices edged higher in June, supported by higher meat, vegetable oil and dairy prices, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization said on Friday.

The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in a basket of internationally traded food commodities, averaged 128.0 points in June, up 0.5% from May. The index stood 5.8% higher than a year ago, but remained 20.1% below its record high in March 2022.

The cereal price index fell 1.5% to 107.4 points, now 6.8% below a year ago, as global maize prices dropped sharply for a second month. Larger harvests and more export competition from Argentina and Brazil weighed on maize, while barley and sorghum also declined.

Wheat prices, however, rose due to weather concerns in Russia, the European Union, and the United States.

The vegetable oil price index rose 2.3% from May to 155.7 points, now 18.2% above its June 2024 level, led by higher palm, rapeseed, and soy oil prices.

Palm oil climbed nearly 5% from May on strong import demand, while soy oil was supported by expectations of higher demand from the biofuel sector following announcements of supportive policy measures in Brazil and the United States.

Sugar prices dropped 5.2% from May to 103.7 points, the lowest since April 2021, reflecting improved supply prospects in Brazil, India, and Thailand.

Meat prices rose to a record 126.0 points, now 6.7% above June 2024, with all categories rising except poultry. Bovine meat set a new peak, reflecting tighter supplies from Brazil and strong demand from the United States. Poultry prices continued to fall due to abundant Brazilian supplies.

The dairy price index edged up 0.5% from May to 154.4 points, marking a 20.7% annual increase. In a separate report, the FAO forecast global cereal production in 2025 at a record 2.925 billion tonnes, 0.5% above its previous projection and 2.3% above the previous year. The outlook could be affected by expected hot, dry conditions in parts of the Northern Hemisphere, particularly for maize with plantings almost complete.

LONDON: Copper prices retreated on Friday as focus switched to US President Donald Trump’s July 9 deadline when sweeping tariffs take effect on countries that have not yet secured trade agreements.

Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was down 0.8% at $9,880 a metric ton in official open-outcry trading, having hit a three-month high of $10,020.5 a ton earlier this week.

Volumes were subdued due to the July 4 Independence Day holiday in the United States, traders said.

Trump said his administration will begin sending letters later on Friday to 10 to 12 countries informing them of the tariff rate their products will face in the US Caution due to several large trading partners, including the European Union, Japan and India, still trying to negotiate a deal with the US had triggered profit-taking on long positions or bets on higher prices, traders said.

On the technical front, first support for copper, used in power and construction, comes in at the 21-day moving average around $9,762. Elsewhere, worries about aluminium supplies on the LME created by large holdings of warrants and nearby contracts receded due to slowing outflows and deliveries to the LME-registered warehouses. Aluminium stocks in LME warehouses have climbed 27,025 tons to 363,925 tons since June 25. Cancelled warrants or metal earmarked for delivery at 2% indicate only small amounts are due to be delivered out.

Overall, a softer dollar was providing some support for industrial metals on Friday. But traders said growing prospects of the Federal Reserve holding interest rates steady after Thursday’s strong jobs report could boost the US currency and weigh on metals demand. Aluminium was down 0.6% at $2,590.5 a ton in official activity, zinc fell 0.5% to $2,736, lead eased 0.1% to $2,062, tin retreated 0.3% to $33,750 and nickel slipped 0.9% to $15,315.

CAMPINAS, (Brazil): Brazilian coffee exporter Grupo Tristao sees coffee production in Espirito Santo state potentially exceeding that of Vietnam in the coming years, as it plans to build a large new warehouse in the region to meet the supply increase.

Espirito Santo is Brazil’s second-largest coffee-producing state, behind only Minas Gerais, but while the latter is a large arabica producer, the former focuses more on robusta, a generally cheaper variety primarily used to make instant coffee.

If it were a country, Espirito Santo alone would rank third globally in coffee output, behind Brazil and Vietnam. But the head of Grupo Tristao, a leading exporter of green and instant coffee, believes that the state will soon close the gap with the Asian country, which also produces mostly robusta.

“It is not impossible to imagine that five years from now, Espirito Santo will be producing more than Vietnam,” Sergio Tristao told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.

He pointed to advanced technology and irrigation, as well as room to expand planting on degraded pastures, as factors behind the projected increase. Market participants have voiced surprise at the quick growth in Brazil’s robusta coffee production.

The US Department of Agriculture expects Vietnam to produce 31 million 60-kg bags of coffee in 2025/26, while Espirito Santo’s output was estimated at 21.5 million bags – also, including some arabica output.

Brazil’s total coffee production is seen at 65 million bags in the season. Family-run Grupo Tristao plans to build a large warehouse for at least 1 million bags in Espirito Santo to improve logistics as supply grows, Tristao said.

The warehouse will be located near the brand-new Imetame Port in the city of Aracruz, whose operations are slated to begin in 2027. “We are going to buy land near the port and plan our future there,” Tristao said.

The group currently owns a warehouse for about 300,000 bags in Espirito Santo and another one in Minas Gerais state.

KARACHI: On Thursday at PMEX, the traded value of Metals, Energy, COTS and indices was recorded at PKR 36.788 billion and the number of lots traded was 46,348.

Major business was contributed by Gold amounting to PKR 17.055 billion, followed by COTS (PKR9.249 billion), Platinum (PKR 3.722 billion), Silver (PKR 2.487 billion), NSDQ 100 (PKR 1.974 billion), Crude oil (PKR 1.044 billion), DJ (PKR 318.918 million), Copper (PKR 291.984 million), Natural Gas (PKR 253.688 million), SP500 (PKR 148.535 million), Japan Equity (PKR 90.746 million), Palladium (66.160 million), Brent (PKR 22.408 million) and Aluminium (7.304 million).

In Agricultural commodities, 9 lots amounting to PKR 54.932 million were traded.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025